Here's another noob question...but its a good one...

[LMBDave]

How many pounds of stuff can i decorate my 180 gallon with until the bottom breaks out?

i want to do a bunch of big flat rocks and stuff, but im affraid of the bottom breaking out from all the weight...ever heard of that happening? god that would be tragic.

 

[froglover007]

Is it acrylic or glass? If it is glass it should hold up just fine but I reommend putting a few inches of sand under some of the larger rocks, but this probably isnt as necessary if the rocks will be flat.

 

[msjinkzd]

alot of people considering significant rock work will put egg crate under teh sand bed to protect the glass in case of falling rock and to help evenly distribute the weight.

 

[LMBDave]

Is it acrylic or glass? If it is glass it should hold up just fine but I reommend putting a few inches of sand under some of the larger rocks, but this probably isnt as necessary if the rocks will be flat.

the bottom will be covered with gravel. Im just concerned cuz some of these rocks i have are pretty large and pretty freakin heavy, like 5lbs+ some are maybe even pushin 10lbs.

 

[LMBDave]

Is it acrylic or glass? If it is glass it should hold up just fine but I reommend putting a few inches of sand under some of the larger rocks, but this probably isnt as necessary if the rocks will be flat.

oh yah, its a glass tank.

 

[LMBDave]

alot of people considering significant rock work will put egg crate under teh sand bed to protect the glass in case of falling rock and to help evenly distribute the weight.

im not planning on stacking the rocks too high, so i dont think there will be too much issue with falling rocks...as for the egg crate idea, its a good one, but do u think i would have to do something like that considering there's gonna be about 3 inches of gravel on the bottom of the tank?

 

[msjinkzd]

not if you are not stacking them.

 

[froglover007]

im not planning on stacking the rocks too high, so i dont think there will be too much issue with falling rocks...as for the egg crate idea, its a good one, but do u think i would have to do something like that considering there's gonna be about 3 inches of gravel on the bottom of the tank?

It is a good idea but probably not necessary in your situation unless you wanted to pile rocks high.

 

[DoctaQ]

saltwater tanks often have rocks that weigh over ten pounds